It had all gone according to plan. Until it didn't.
That was pretty much the story of the 2003 World Cup and Kenya's story was no different.
It happened on more than one occasion for them during the World Cup in which they became the first and so far only non-Test nation to make it to the World Cup semi-final.
Arguably the most defining moment of the entire tournament, at least for Kenya, came against Sri Lanka at Nairobi in their fourth group game of the World Cup.
After being demolished by 10 wickets by South Africa in their opening game of the tournament, Kenya bounced back by just squeaking past Canada. They were given a helping hand by New Zealand after security reasons meant that their clash ended in a walkover and four points for Kenya.
Going into the clash against Sri Lanka, who were in red-hot form, three wins out of three after beating New Zealand then humiliating Bangladesh and Canada following 10-wicket and nine-wicket wins respectively.
After Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field, Kenya didn't get off to a great start. Opener Kennedy Otieno, however, was in no mood to surrender despite losing wickets at regular intervals.
An enterprising fifty helped Kenya get past the 100 mark still only three down but once he was dismissed for 60 with the score at 112/4, it was advantage Sri Lanka.
Twenties from HS Modi, Maurice Odumbe and a cameo from the tail helped the hosts get past 200. They ended up with 210/9, which was far from challenging against a formidable Sri Lankan batting line-up.
It had all gone according to plan. Until it didn't.
However, Collins Obuya had other ideas. The leg spinner, buoyed from his cameo with the bat, just proceeded to run through the Sri Lankan top-order.
At 71/2 with Hashan Tillakaratne and Aravinda de Silva at the crease, the visitors would have felt confident of making it four wins out of four. But Obuya first had Tillakaratne caught in the deep then the out-of-sorts Mahela Jayawardene poked a simple return catch after he was given a reprieve with a missed run out.
At 87/4, the game was still in the balance but the leggie got rid of both Sangakkara and Aravinda de Silva, caught behind, in back-to-back overs. Before making matters worse by dismissing Chaminda Vaas as well to leave the visitors at 119/7 on a slow pitch.
Obuya eventually finished with figures of 10-0-24-5, which remains the best figures by a Kenyan bowler in ODIs till date. And despite an unbeaten 25 from Russell Arnold, the visitors were bundled out for 157 in 45 overs, giving the host their first win over Sri Lanka and only their tenth ODI win.
It was a shock that showcased what Kenya were capable of, as they ended up making the Super Sixes courtesy of their four-game winning streak in the group stage before beating Zimbabwe to clinch a semi-final spot.